12 Tips For Practising Self-Development From The Comfort Of Your Own Home

Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes

Since I’m writing this during the coronavirus scare, it’s highly likely that you are stuck at home for longer than you’ve been used to.

Maybe it’s because of lockdown policies that are in effect where you live, or perhaps you have other reasons, but either way, it may feel like you’ve had to put your life on hold for now.

And to some extent, that may be true, but it doesn’t mean your personal development has to be put on hold, because there are plenty of ways to continue developing yourself without leaving home – there’s always a way if you’re committed and motivated.

In fact, you probably have more free time on your hands than you usually do, which means now might be the best opportunity that you’ve had in a long time to take your development to the next level.

So, here are a dozen ideas for you to consider:

  1. Be creative. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to create something (e.g. art, music, crafts, cooking or baking) but never thought you had the time? Well, guess what – now you do! You’ll find a few articles about creativity here.
  2. Create a positive habit. Now is a great time to develop a good habit. Consider how much you could accomplish over the next few years with just a couple of positive habits. The best thing about good habits is that they’re automatic once you have them established. You’ll find a variety of articles about habits here.
  3. Drop a negative habit. Following on from the previous tip, your bad habits have probably done a lot of damage over the years. Just eliminating one negative habit can change your life for the better. Habits can be challenging to change, but if you’re stuck at home, now is a good time to give it your best effort. (A great book on this subject is Mini Habits by Stephen Guise.)
  4. Exercise. You can get all the exercise that most people require right at home – just think of all the exercises that don’t require fancy equipment. Calisthenics, jumping rope, running, and playing basketball, just to name a few. You can ride your bike or do cartwheels in your front yard. Jog in place. Follow along with an exercise video on your computer or TV. You’ll find more ideas here.
  5. Find a mentor. Spend some of your time at home looking for the perfect mentor. You can reach nearly anybody from the comfort of your home via the Internet. A mentor can cut years off your learning curve, no matter what it is you’re trying to learn. Your future mentor is probably bored right now and looking for a new project. Alternatively, you could become a mentor to somebody else, because you probably have skills and/or knowledge that are worth sharing with others.
  6. Learn online. The Internet is full of courses – both free ones and paid ones. You can learn to draw, speak a language, play the piano, or how to do integral calculus if that’s your thing. There’s a course for whatever it is you want to learn. What interests you? My current favourite site is Udemy, but there are plenty of others to choose from, including, of course, YouTube, where you can find pretty much anything you need.
  7. Meditate. Meditation is the perfect personal development activity to do at home. Plus, it’s free. Meditation can reduce stress and help you to learn how to focus your attention at a higher level. You’ll find plenty of articles about meditation (and related topics such as yoga) here.
  8. Read. You can still order both real books and eBooks. Many of the local libraries still have a process in place for checking out books. There’s also plenty of content available online. You don’t have to leave your home to read, and whatever it is you want to learn or educate yourself about, there’s likely to be a good selection of books on the subject – or maybe you just want to entertation yourself.
  9. Start your own business. This may seem like a big step, but nobody’s saying you need to give up your day job immediately – there are many people to begin by turning a passion into a side-business, and that can, over time, become a full-time income earner – if it’s what you want and if it takes off. You can read about the process of doing this here.
  10. Uncover your blind spots. There is something about yourself that you don’t know but would change your life if you did know. It’s not easy to see your flaws, or to see how other people see you. This will take some real work, but you’ll be able to accomplish so much if you can figure out what it is you’re failing to recognize about yourself. And remember it may be flaws or it may be strengths.
  11. Work on your relationship. Assuming you have a partner at home, then now is a great time to talk about what’s working and what’s not, so you can fix any problems and strengthen that relationship. You might find this course helpful here. And, of course, you get to spend more time with your kids (or pets).
  12. Write. Develop your writing skills. Keep a journal (which has therapeutic benefits too). There are all sorts of ways to use writing to further develop yourself. Written communication is a valuable skill to master – or you can write for the fun of it. My favourite writing activities are free-writing and haiku, but there are plenty of other types of writing you could do (e.g. maintaining a gratitude diary).

Conclusion

If you are stuck at home, and maybe bored, then why not make use of this opportunity to better yourself in any number of ways?

You can improve your health, increase your knowledge, develop new skills, start a business, strengthen your relationship (e.g. with your partner and/or your children) and so much more, and there may never be a better time than right now.

Additional Resources

These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:

  1. Mini Habits
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